


Love or Something Less

by crossroad_angel



Series: Something Less [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, I'll decide when I get there, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Selectively Mute Sam, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:49:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7888351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossroad_angel/pseuds/crossroad_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmates exist but aren't easy to find. The first words that you hear from them appear on your skin and it's a painful process that happens at random. </p><p>Hot, popular, and doesn't believe in soulmates. That's Dean Winchester. So he wasn't exacly happy when the words 'it can't be him' burned into his ankle at 11 years old. Castiel Novak, however, loves the idea of having a soulmate but the 16 year old is left heartbroken when he finds the words 'I just think the whole soulmate thing is stupid' written on his arm.</p><p>Sam Winchester was thrilled to get his words because to just have a soulmate was enough. He knew it was unlikely he'd be able to ever speak to his soulmate due to being selectively mute for most of his life. All of Gabriel Shurley's siblings have their words but he's still wondering if he'll ever get them.</p><p>Michael Singer is as straight as they come, at least that's what he tells himself. Well, until he meets his soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Dean was eleven when the words appeared on his skin. 

The Winchester family were spending a day at the beach like normal family they were. Dean watched as his seven year old brother waded into the water and waved for him to join him. Dean laughed as he ran to the edge of the water but a small yelp cut that laughter short when the cold water lapped at his toes.

"It's too cold!" Dean called to his brother, refusing to take another step. A bubbly giggle escaped the youngest Winchester's lips when he saw Dean looking at the water distastefully. "Don't laugh at me!"

Sam just laughed harder. He had travelled out enough for the water to reach his hips, which wasn't that far but his parents thoroughly lectured him to not go any farther.

"That's it!" Dean ran until the water reached his calfs then he had to wade due to the water slowing him down. When he reached Sam, who was trying to escape, he splashed the cold water into his younger and shorter brother's face.

Meanwhile, back on the shore, Mary was leaning her head on her husband and soulmate's shoulder, watching her two children proudly.

Mary was wearing a tank top, showing the words "has anybody got a pen?" on her shoulder while John's shorts allowed the words "I do" to be seen on his leg.

When the words first appeared to John he knew instantly that he wanted to hear the words in a second context and it was the happiest day of his life when he did. Now here they were, a family and all of their dreams already achieved.

Then there was a scream. Dean's scream.

John and Mary instantly got to their feet, running down to the water as fast as their feet would carry them.

Sam stared at his brother with worry and shock on his face. The water around Dean was boiling with the heat as a bright white light shone from Dean's ankle. Dean whimpered when he felt himself being picked up by someone. John held Dean close to his chest as black words began to wrap themselves around Dean's ankle.

"It can't be him."


	2. The New Kid's a Little Weird

Castiel stared at his arm. 'I just think the whole soulmate thing is stupid.' He had been awake since the pain of the words burning into his skin had woken him up.  
'Why today?' He couldn't help but think. He was actually excited about starting a new school for once. It gave him a chance to forget the assholes that made his life hell at his old school.

The only reason they had to move was because Lucifer, Castiel's older brother, literally knocked one of the bullies out.

Obviously, Castiel's excitement was cut short by the fact that he hadn't even met his soulmate and he'd already been rejected. He'd been eagerly anticipating the words ever since he found out the he would get them, and he'd always thought he'd be happy when they did appear, but instead he was curled up in his bed with tear stains on his cheeks due to a mix of the burning pain engulfing his arm and the disappointment of what it said there.

Luckily, he hadn't woken anyone in his family up. He didn't need an endless wave of siblings asking him what was wrong, and he definitely didn't need Lucifer threaten to punch someone he had yet to meet.

\--

Is there anything more cliché than waking up to an alarm clock blaring at the start of the story?

Dean groaned and reached his arm out, hoping to hit the snooze button, but found an almost empty bedside table instead. He opened his eyes, wondering where the clock had gone. The first thing he was greeted with was himself at eleven years old, smiling widely with the sea behind him from the photo that he'd had on the table for years. Sammy was smiling just as brightly next to him and Mary stood behind them, her arms around them both. The only person absent from the picture was John but that was just because he was the one behind the camera. He was also greeted by a deep "Wake up. You've got school."

Dean groaned again and rolled onto his back. His father was standing above him, alarm clock in hand. "Daaaad." Dean whined, pulling the covers over his face. He had been up most of the night online which resulted in him being too tired to go to school. "Can I just call in sick?"

The sound of the alarm had stopped and, for a second, Dean thought that he'd get to stay home, but that was cut short when the covers were pulled away from him, followed by John saying "Nope."

Dean was about to bury his face into his pillow again when the smell of bacon hit him. "Is mom making breakfast?" He sat up, maybe a little too quickly. He was temporarily dizzy and there were white spots in his vision.

John chuckled as he watched his son tumble out of bed and reach for clean clothes. "Michael will be here to pick you up soon so you'd better get ready quickly." Then John left the room.

Dean pulled on a pair of jeans and a (probably) clean shirt before running downstairs. As soon as he got into the kitchen he was tackled to the ground.

"Rose!" Mary called, getting the retriever to stop licking Dean's face. Rose removed her front paws from where they were firmly planted on Dean's chest. She padded over to Mary and sat at her feet. Mary patted Rose's head before moving the bacon from the pan onto plates. "Good morning, Dean." She smiled when Dean managed to get back to his feet.

"Hey, mom." Dean replied, taking a seat at the kitchen table next to Sam, who was already eating. "Heya, Sammy." Sam nodded in acknowledgment of the greeting then went back to eating.

The rest of the morning consisted of everyone trying to avoid tripping over Rose and Sam spending well over fifteen minutes in the bathroom while Dean yelled at him to hurry up through the door.

"Dean!" John called from the bottom of the stairs. "Michael's here!"

Dean grabbed his bag from his bed and ran downstairs again, almost running into Sam, who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs by that point. He grabbed Sam's shoulders to stop him from falling over. "You ready?" He smiled at the youngest and Sam nodded in reply.

It was the first day of a new school year. The first day of Dean and Michael's final year at Paradise High and the first day of Sam's first year.

Michael had been giving Dean a ride to school since he'd learned to drive. Dean knew how to drive but he didn't have his own car yet.

"Hi, Dean." Michael greeted from the front door. "Hey, Sam." Michael hadn't seen much of them over the summer, so it was good to see them again. "Have you got your words yet?" He asked.

Sam nodded enthusiastically and pulled down his collar. The words 'glitter first, questions later' followed along his collar bone.

"They sound... Interesting." Michael commented.

'What about you?' Sam signed.

Michael shook his head. "I'm sure they'll show up soon." Dean clapped a hand on Michael's shoulder. Dean didn't really believe that anyone needed a soulmate. Who was the universe to decide who he was to fall in love with? Everywhere he looked he saw people desperate to find their soulmate and it had started to annoy him a long time ago. From the moment the words appeared on his ankle he decided that he'd be with whoever he loved. Not his soulmate.

"You're right." Michael smiled at his cousin. "Now, let's go."

\--

Dean waited impatiently for Michael to put his stuff in his locker, he wanted to go see his friends again before first period began.  
He had his first class with most of them, but he'd prefer to speak to them without Mrs Mills hovering over them. She was a great teacher and great to talk to outside of class when she was just Jody, but she made sure the work in class got done. And everyone knew that you didn't argue with Mrs Mills.

Dean was bouncing on the balls of his feet by the time Michael had closed his locker. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah. Charlie said to meet them at the usual place." The usual place was a table in the centre of the outdoor eating area. No one else ever sat there, it was probably one of the benefits of being popular in high school. Though their group didn't exactly consist of popular kid material.

There was Dean and Michael who were the star football players but a secret they shared was the time that they hadn't slept for days when they'd stayed up to binge watch Doctor Who.

There was Charlie, who was very openly nerdy and very openly gay. She was a few years younger than the two of them and they had met her when she had walked into the male changing room during a PE lesson while looking for her friend. After that she sat with them every lunch.  
There was Kevin. Kevin was younger than them too, but he had been put up a year at school, so he was in a lot of their classes and he was a straight A student. He had spent a weekend at Dean's once and they watched Sherlock with Sammy. Michael and Charlie were pretty mad when they found out that they'd watched it without them.

Then there was Jo, Adam and Benny. Jo was the principal's daughter and Adam was her adopted brother. Ellen, their mom, was friends with John, Mary, Bobby, and Karen. And Benny had been friends with Dean since elementary school.

As Dean walked through the halls of the school he couldn't help but be slightly disgusted by the conversations he heard. It mainly friends talking about words that appeared over the summer and, worse than that, the people who had already found their soulmates. It was gross.  
"Hey, bitches!" Charlie called in greeting from where she was perched on the table. The rest of their friends were sitting on the seats by the table.  
"Hey." Dean smiled as he joined them.

"Brother." Benny greeted when he saw him. "How was your summer?"

"It was alright." Dean nodded. "I got a new Tennant poster and Sammy got his words."

"Good for him. Where is the kid anyway?”  
Before Dean could answer Charlie spoke up again. "Michael, you okay?" Dean looked over to where Michael was standing with a pained expression on his face while clutching his upper arm, but he nodded anyway.

"Michael." Jo stood up and headed to Michael, placing a hand on his shoulder. He loosened the grip he had on his arm and a white light could be seen shining through the spaces between his fingers. "Oh my god." She murmured, pulling his hand away from his arm. The light had died down and 'WELCOME TO HELL' was written in black down his arm. "What does that even mean?" 

"I don't know but I'm scared."

\--

Kevin, Benny, Jo, Michael, Dean, and Adam were planning on being the first in class because they wanted to pick the seats for the group and would no doubt have a five-minute argument about whether they should sit at the front or the back. But Dean and Michael had gotten there before the rest due to them getting caught up in the crowd.  
As soon as they stepped into the classroom the lights started flickering as "Welcome to Hell!" was shouted by the student playing with the light switch. Dean shot Michael a concerned look. Who was this kid? They'd never seen him before.  
Michael was staring at the blond messing with the lights. A whispered "holy grace..." slipped passed his lips as he watched the boy who may be his soulmate. The stranger seemed to freeze for a moment when he heard Michael before he decided to leave the lights off and take a seat at the back of the class. "We're sitting at the front this year." His voice was lowered so only Dean could hear him.

"Don't you want to talk to-"

"We're sitting at the front."


	3. We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lucifer actually paid attention in class. He was paying attention to the wrong thing, but he was still paying attention. He spent most of the class either watching a dark-haired boy at the front of the class or the small black letters on his wrist that spelled out 'holy grace.'

"Lucifer." Mrs Mills said, finally getting his attention.

"I'm sorry." Lucifer could feel the blush creep up his neck as the entire class was looking at him. "What was the question?"

"What's the significance of the quote 'wine-coloured rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.'" She repeated politely.

"Uhh... They can get as drunk as they want, and no one will see the stains on the rug?"

A laughter rippled through the class and there was the hint of a smile on Mrs Mills face as she shook her head. "I suppose that it is an answer and you're new, so I'll let it slide." Lucifer felt his body relax. He was rarely caught off guard but when he was, he was really caught off guard. "Michael," she said next, getting the attention of -most likely- his soulmate. And now Lucifer knew his name. "Can you tell me what the significance is?"

"It's foreshadowing." He answered easily. "If the carpet is 'wine-coloured' then it's most likely red. And 'like the wind on the sea' could mean water."

"Perfect answer."

Lucifer was watching Michael again but, this time, in awe. Obviously, Michael had read the book, but it was the confidence in the way he said it that left Lucifer feeling the way he did. There was something in his voice that made him sound like a person who was in control and knew what he wanted. Then why didn't he talk to Lucifer?

\--

When the bell rang, signalling the end of class, everyone was in a hurry to leave but Michael hesitated when he reached the door.

"You not coming?" Dean asked when he noticed Michael wasn't next to him anymore.

"You go ahead. There's someone I need to talk to."

Dean just shrugged and caught up with their other friends. Michael waited until the last of the students were filing out of the classroom then he grabbed the shoulder of the particular one he was waiting for.

"Lucifer, right?" He asked the wide-eyed new kid. Lucifer only nodded in response. "Cool. I'm Michael."

"Uhh- Hi." Lucifer managed to regain composure.

"What class do you have?"

"Chemistry."

Michael's face momentarily fell. "I've got French. But, I'll see you later?"

"Definitely"

"Great." Michael smiled. "I'll see you then." Then he left, he would probably be late for class, but he was feeling better than he had in a long time. Neither of them had mentioned the soulmate thing but, then again, neither of them really had to.

\--

"You're new." The redhead stared at him from where she was seated across the table.

"Is it that obvious?" Castiel asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I like you already." She sat back and smiled. "And I love your shirt."

"Thank you?" Castiel looked down at his shirt as if he'd forgotten what he was wearing. His black shirt said, "I AM SHERLOCKED."

"I know someone who'd love you." She seemed easily excited and Castiel had to admit that it was an adorable quality in a person. "I'm Charlie by the way."

"Castiel."

"Settle down, class." The teacher walked into the classroom. "Welcome back." He smiled. "I'm Doctor Smith and I'll be your physics teacher for the year." The oddly dressed man was stood in front of a white board. "I know it's only the beginning of the year so it's a bit cruel to ask you to do a big assignment already, but I promise it will be fun and you'll be doing over the course of the year so pick your partner wisely."

"Hey, Castiel." Charlie whispered, leaning across the table. "Will you be my partner." Castiel nodded in reply. "Awesome!" She exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly.

"Miss Bradbury, I assume?" Doctor Smith chuckled. Charlie's face became almost as red as her hair as she nodded. "Doctor Watson told me about you. Don't worry though. Mostly good things."

\--

"And that's how you make a robot from a pepper shaker." Doctor Smith concluded just as the bell rang out. "Looks like that's it for today. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"He. Is. Awesome." Charlie said excitedly as she left the classroom for lunch, Castiel by her side. "Maybe even better than Doctor Watson was."

"Definitely better than my last teacher." The physics teacher at Castiel's previous school was only there for the pay check. She didn't care about the subject of the students. Castiel loved when the teacher had a passion for their subject, like Doctor Smith.

"This way." Charlie said, pulling Castiel away from the corridor he'd tried to walk down.

"Oh." He followed her to the eating area outside the school. There was a large crowd gathered around one of the tables and a couple of people were sat on the table itself. One of the ones sat on the table had his head thrown back in laughter.

When Castiel could see his face he instantly knew there was something beautiful about him. Something... unexpected.

"That's Dean." Charlie said, noticing his staring. "He's who I was telling you about."

Part of the conversation going on amongst the group could be heard. "I just think the whole soulmate thing is stupid." The one, who Castiel now knew was called Dean, said.

Something stirred inside Castiel. "It can't be him." The smile that was on Dean's face faltered, but he didn't look away from the group to find the source of the words.

Charlie continued smiling, obviously not knowing what Castiel actually meant. "I know. I was surprised when I found out he was a major geek too."

"Charlie!" One of them called. Her smile brightened as she approached the table."

"This is Castiel." She said, pushing him towards the table.

"Hey." Cas smiled awkwardly.

There was various "hey"s and "hi"s from the group before Dean spoke up again. He pointed to each one in turn. "That's Jo, Adam, Kevin, Benny, Michael, you've already met Charlie, and I'm Dean." Dean's attention then left Castiel and was back on the group. "You'll never believe who Kevin met today."

"Who?" Jo asked, looking at Kevin who had his face hidden in his hands.

"He won't tell us the name, but apparently they're really cute." Michael spoke this time. "And they're new."

"Shut up." Kevin muttered from behind his hands.

"Come on." Charlie whined, sitting next to Kevin and pulling his hands away from his face. "Tell us who you're crushing on. You can whisper it to me if you want." Kevin pushed Charlie's face away from his.

"Dean told me that Michael met his soulmate." Kevin blurted out, probably trying to get the attention away from him.

"Dean!" Michael smacked Dean's arm. "Why'd you tell him?"

"Because it's the first exciting thing to happen in so long." Dean rested his forehead against Michael's shoulder. "You spoke to him after class, right?" Michael nodded.

"Him?" Jo looked up at Michael. "What's his name?" She demanded.

"Lucifer."

"The new kid?

"He's my brother." Everyone looked at Castiel.

"Seriously?" Michael asked, if he was trying to hide the excitement in his voice then he was doing a pretty bad job of it.

"Anyway," Dean interrupted, "I'm starving." He got off of the table. "Hey, Cas." He put a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "You want to come?"


	4. Show Some Class

"So, do you have your words yet?" Dean asked as he walked with Castiel. Castiel looked down at his tray of food and nodded. "Any idea who it is."

Castiel chewed his bottom lip nervously before looking up at Dean. "No." He lied. He couldn't just say 'it might be you,' and expect Dean to still want to hang out with him afterwards. Besides, it might not even be Dean. "What about you?"

"Yeah," Dean said, "but I don't think who we fall in love with should be decided for us. So, if I fall in love it probably won't be with my soulmate."

\--

Sam kept his head down as he walked through the crowd of older students. Dean had told him that he was to tell him if there was any trouble, but Sam didn't want any trouble at all.

He heard many conversations happening as he passed the groups of students but only one in particular caught his full attention.

"I don't understand what you-"

"Glitter first, questions later." Sam's breath caught in his throat as he looked up to find whoever had spoken. But in a crowd of perfect strangers it was hard to pinpoint someone you'd never met by voice alone. So, he waited for the voice again.

"You've been here for less than a day." The first person pointed out. Sam's eyes landed on a tall blond boy, probably around the same age as Dean and Michael. "At least wait until next week to get expelled."

The shorter boy that was with him pouted and held his hand out. "I'm not going to do anything with it. I just want it back." Sam immediately recognized the voice that belonged to the boy who'd said his words.

The taller of the two rolled his eyes but handed over a bag. "Whatever. I'm going to see if I can find Michael." Then he left.

Sam's possible soulmate smiled and turned to leave but his eyes met Sam's. His smile changed into a more teasing smirk and he raised an eyebrow. A blush covered Sam's face as he looked down at his feet again. He couldn't tell if the blush was caused by the fact that he was caught staring or if it was the impossibly gold eyes that still lingered somewhere in his mind.

When Sam looked up again the boy wasn't where Sam had last seen him but just as Sam was going to shrug it off and go to find Dean he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, coming face to face with his soulmate. "My day just got better." He smiled. "Heya, cutie. The name's Gabriel."

The blush on Sam's face darkened and for once he was glad that he couldn't stutter out a reply and embarrass himself further. Well, he would be, if he hadn't suddenly forgotten everything he'd ever learned to sign.

So, he did what any rational kid his age would do. He left as quickly as he could without any other sign that he'd even acknowledged Gabriel's presence.

\--

"Hey, Sammy." Dean called when as Sam walked past, still staring down at his feet. Sam looked up and smiled when he saw his brother with his friends and immediately ran over to join them.

Sam's smile fell when he noticed Michael's absence and a new face in the group instead.

"Michael's with his new friend." Adam said, understanding the look on Sam's face. There were sniggers and giggles from multiple people among the group, causing Sam to question the choice of the word "friend."

"At least he was able to find his soulmate." Jo gave Adam's shoulder a gentle shove. "Imagine having to live with this." She grabbed his wrist, so she could show Sam what was written on it. The only mark on his skin was the word 'hi' in thin black letters.

"It's not funny." Adam pulled his wrist out of Jo's grip and pulled his sleeve back down to cover up the word. "It could literally be anyone."

"Just view it as a world of opportunity, my friend." Benny leaned across the table and clapped a hand on Adam's shoulder.

Sam had already moved on from the conversation and decide to stare at the groups new addition instead. Luckily, Dean caught his staring first. "Sam," he said quietly. Sam immediately looked up at him, "don't stare."

'Who's that?' he signed.

"I'm Castiel." Cas answered before Dean could.

"Cas is new." Dean explained. "Cas, this is my brother Sam."

Cas smiled at Sam before glancing at Dean and his smile changed. It was a warm smile that seemed like you'd only see it if you were lucky enough earn it. It was almost like he rarely smiled but when he did it could light up any dark place. Dean's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a cry of "Is Dean blushing?!"

Dean looked at all of his friends who were staring at him by that point, seemingly expecting some kind of response from him, but all they got was a "Hey. Shut up."

\--

"And I present unto thee, my masterpiece." Gabriel announced, gesturing the almost empty classroom.

"Uh-huh..." Samandriel nodded, trying to see what the joke was. "Well, I'm going to head over to my next class if that's okay with you." He turned to walk away from the classroom, but a crash had him turning back.

The classroom was coated in a layer of glitter. "I feel bad for whoever has to clean that up." Gabriel leaned against the door frame, admiring his work.

"How did you even-"

Gabriel shrugged. "The ceiling tiles were loose." He looked over the room one last time and sighed. "It would have been so much better if there was someone in the room. But you just refused to go in."

"I hate you."

"I love you too, Alfie." Gabriel put an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Now let's go before we're caught."

"Before you're caught." Samandriel corrected him before shrugging off his arm. "I'll see you at home."

As Samandriel walked through the corridor, he came to an abrupt stop just as he was about to walk into someone. He looked up, wide-eyed at the stranger in front of him. He was attractive in a dishevelled sort of way with his slightly rumpled clothes, dirty blond hair, and cool blue eyes. "Hi," he squeaked out before walking away in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

\--

"How was school?" Chuck asked as a stampede of teenagers fought to get through the front door first. One of the children was his own while most of them were adopted.

Lucifer -at eighteen, was the eldest- was Chuck's child. Chuck didn't really speak to Lucifer's mother anymore and his sister, Amara, helped out the first few months. A while later he adopted Gabriel (who was fifteen). Then Gadreel and Anna joined the family (both of them, now sixteen). The newest members of the family were Castiel (he had bounced around the foster system until he was sixteen and Chuck decided to adopt him) and Samandriel (the fifteen-year-old son of Becky, Chuck's bride to be).

"Lucifer got a boyfriend!" Gabriel yelled, running into the kitchen with Lucifer chasing after him.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Yet."


	5. One of the Cool Kids

"Just do it already." Dean sounded irritated as he looked over Michael's shoulder at the unsent text message. "He gave you his number for a reason."

"It might make him think that I want to date him."

"But you do want to date him."

"Hey," Michael looked over his shoulder at Dean, "He may be my soulmate but I'm pretty sure that I'm still straight."

Before Dean could say anything, Mary leaned against the door frame and Rose bounded into the room. "Michael, sweetie," she smiled sweetly, "will you be staying for dinner?"

"I can just go home, Mary." Michael replied. He quickly shoved his phone into his pocket, leaving the message unsent. "I don't want to bother you or anything."

"You won’t be bothering me. John's cooking anyway."

"Can't we just order take out." Dean whined but immediately shut up when his mom glared at him. "Sorry."

\--

Lucifer had been anxiously checking his phone during the entire trip to school which, of course, had gotten the attention of his siblings, who were now crowded around him as he walked. "Do you guys mind?" They immediately wandered away from him, none of them wanting to get on his bad side.

When they did make it to the school they all went off in their separate directions because they saw enough of each other at home and if they spent any more time than necessary in their tidal wave of a family one of them might be arrested for murder.

Upon entering the building Castiel was knocked backwards by the force of someone else. He didn't stumble, just took half a step back to regain his balance and looked down at the redhead that had her arms wrapped around him. "Uhh... What are you doing?"

"I'm hugging you, Cas. It's what friends do."

"Oh." He wrapped his arms around her and smiled. His family moved around a lot, so he was used to being the new kid but normally it took him a long time to make a single friend, now he seemed to have an entire group of friends after a single day and he couldn't say that he hated it.

"C'mon." She disentangled herself from the (ever so slightly awkward) hug and took his wrist, guiding him through the halls. "Maybe you can help me."

"With what?"

"I promised Dean that I'd help him finish his homework before class," she said, still dragging him through the hallway. "Maybe he'll actually finish it if he has two of us helping him."

Cas followed without any complaints other than "why didn't he just do it earlier?"

"Because he's a dumbass." Charlie turned down a corridor that was lined with lockers and the occasional bench or classroom. Before long they'd spotted Dean, sat on one of the benches and looking at his phone.

When he looked up and noticed them and smiled. "Hey, why'd you ask me to meet you here?" Dean asked when Charlie let go of Cas and sat next to him.

"She told me that she was helping you with homework."

"But I don't have any-" He looked over at Charlie and raised an eyebrow.

"I may have lied a little," she said. "But I have an idea." She looked up at Cas and patted the bench next to her. When he sat down both he and Dean looked at her suspiciously. "I know that you two barely know each other but I was thinking-"

"No," Dean cut her off. "I know what you're doing and I'm telling you to stop now."

"What's she doing?"

"Shipping."

"No. Just hear me out." Charlie held up her hands in an attempt to show that intentions were innocent. "You have practice after school, right?" Dean nodded. "Cas and I come watch then you both come back to mine for Netflix and pizza," she proposed. "Even though you'd be really cute together," she added under her breath.

"That could be fun." Dean smiled to Cas. "You in?"

"I'd have to call my dad but if he's cool with it I'm in."

-

"You're late." Mr Black shot a glare in the direction of the door as Gabriel strolled into the room.

"Sorry."

"Sorry, sir," Mr Black corrected.

"There's no need to call me sir, professor."

"Just sit down."

Gabriel had a suspicion that Mr Black knew it was him that covered the class in a coat of glitter, but he had no proof, so he couldn't do anything about it. Gabriel took a seat at the back of the class but there was nothing he could really do to entertain himself as he was yet to be introduced to everyone in the class.

Time seemed to drag on slowly and Gabriel was ecstatic to see that the class was almost over after - what felt like - hours. A few minutes before the class was dismissed there was a knock on the door. Gabriel looked up from his notebook. Mr Black smiled at the student who had knocked and was now approaching his desk.

Gabriel recognised the freshman as the one that ran away from him in the hallway the other day. He was just as adorable as Gabriel remembered. He handed Mr Black what was probably a letter. Mr Black looked over the sheet of paper and nodded.

The bell sounded just as the kid left the classroom. Gabriel quickly shoved his books into his bag and got up to catch up with him.

"Hey," The kid look surprised when he looked up to find Gabriel next to him, "sorry if I weirded you out yesterday. I tend to do that a lot." The freshman smiled slightly and shook his head. "So, I didn't creep you out?" He shook his head again. "My name's Gabriel."

Gabriel stopped walking when he realised that the kid had already stopped a few feet behind him and was scribbling something on a piece of paper. He held out the note. I'm Sam.

-

"Am I scary?"

"What?" Dean looked up as Adam sat on the opposite side of the table.

"I think I scared some kid yesterday."

"You scare a lot of kids. Please be more specific."

Adam glared at Dean but stopped when he realised how pointless it was. Dean was hardly paying attention to him. He was more focused on Castiel, who was sitting so close to him that they may as well have been pressed together. In fact, Adam was tempted to just get up and push their faces together. Maybe that would snap them out of whatever this was.

You've known each other for a day, chill.

"Dean." Adam snapped his fingers, managing to get Dean's full attention.

"You're not scary," Dean assured him. "The kid's probably just awkward."

"And adorable," he muttered.

"What?"

"What?"


	6. Netflix and Pizza

"So," Charlie leaned against Castiel's locker so he couldn't open it, "do you like him?"

"I consider him a friend," Cas said.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"I don't know." Cas shrugged. "I barely know him. Can I get my books now?"

"I don't know..." Charlie looked like she was in deep thought for a moment. "I barely know you."

"Charlie."

"Fine, fine." She stepped away from the locker door, so Cas could open it. "Dean isn't busy after school by the way. Just thought you'd want to know."

Cas took his physics book from the locker before closing it and looking at Charlie. "Why would I want to know?"

"So, you can invite him out. Make your move."

Cas was about to answer but the school bell cut him off. "I'm going to head to class, so we'll have to end this conversation here."

"Wrong, my friend," Charlie said as she and Cas began to walk to class. "You're stuck next to me for double physics."

\--

"Those were the longest classes of my life." Gabriel complained while falling into a seat next to Lucifer. When Lucifer replied with nothing but a curt nod and an 'uh-huh' Gabriel sat up straight. "You listening, Luci?"

"Sure," Lucifer relied, his eyes not leaving whatever it was that was more fascinating than the fantastic conversation that Gabriel would surely bring to the table.

"I don't know. You seem pretty distracted."

"It's nothing." He turned his attention back to the book in front of him. "And before you ask, I'm not getting involved in any weird plans today."

"I was just going to ask for advice."

"You want my advice?"

"Well, you're good at making friends," Gabriel shrugged, "and I want to make a friend." Lucifer opened his mouth to speak but before he could Gabriel continued "A specific friend, by the way. I didn't just wake up with a craving."

"Can I ask who this specific friend is?"

"His name is Sam and we talked yesterday. Well, I did all the talking."

"Of course you did."

"Okay, that was rude."

"I've lived with you long enough to know that you don't get to say what is and isn't rude," Lucifer said, looking over to Gabriel for the first time since he'd arrived. "So, this Sam, what's he look like?"

"Like that."

Lucifer looked to where Gabriel was now pointing. "Hey, isn't that Cassie's friend that he's with? The football one that hangs out with Michael. What did Cas say his name was again? Dan? Dennis?"

"Dean," a third party said.

"That's it." Lucifer turned to look at who had joined them. "Hi, Michael."

"Hey." He took a seat on the other side of Lucifer.

"Are you not hanging out with your friends?"

"You're my friend." Michael shrugged. "So yeah, I am. Now, why were you guys talking about Dean?"

"Gabriel wants to befriend the kid," Lucifer answered, nodding in the direction of Dean and the shorter boy.

"Sam? His brother?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, just know that getting Sam to open up can be tough."

"I know," Gabriel said. "I've already met him."

"Oh? Well, I'm not going to stop you." Michael smiled at Gabriel. "Good luck."

\--

"So, Cas," Dean threw an arm around Cas' shoulders. "You're free next week, right?"

"I don't have plans."

"Good." Dean gave a single pat Cas' shoulder then pulled his arm from around Cas. "There's gonna be a party at Jo and Adam's place and you're invited."

"By them or by you?"

"Dude, you're part of the gang now, you're invited to everything by default."

Cas smiled but before he could say anything a text notification sounded. Cas pulled his phone from his pocket to read the message. "I have to go."

"Why?" Dean looked over Castiel's shoulder in an attempt to see the text. "Who needs you?"

"My brother."

"Lucifer?"

"No. Another one. Samandriel."

"Is everyone in your family named after angels?"

"We call him Alfie, if that helps."

"Kinda."

"It's probably just about Balthazar coming over this weekend."

"Who?"

"He's kind of like a weird uncle who shows up unannounced, gives everyone gifts, gets blackout drunk, then leaves again."

\--

"Couldn't this wait until tomorrow? When it's, you know, the weekend?"

"I was going to wait until then, but I panicked." Samandriel took a seat across from Castiel. He rested his elbows on the table between them and buried his face in his hands before mumbling something that Cas couldn't hear.

"Samandriel, please speak clearly."

Samandriel moved his hands away from his face and looked up at Cas. He looked tired and slightly peeved. "How do you deal with having a crush on someone you barely know?"

"I don't have a crush on Dean."

"Who's Dean?"

Cas immediately realised his mistake and knew that the only way to fix this was to change the subject. "Why did you text me about this? Wouldn't it be better to ask Gabriel or Anna?"

"They'd just make fun of me."

"What makes you think they'd make fun of you?" Samandriel raised his eyebrows in response. "Oh, yeah. Dorky little brother."

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Cas shrugged. "So, when you say, 'barely know him' how much is barely?"

"I have said one word to him, but he is hot."

"I don't think I like hearing my baby brother talk like this," Lucifer said as he approached them, Michael in tow. "You shouldn't be finding men hot at your age."

"I'm fifteen."

"When I was fifteen I was watching cartoons and eating ice cream."

"Dad said you showed up on his doorstep naked and drunk when you were fifteen."

"Dad's a liar."


	7. Six - Alfie Needs Dating Advice

"So," Charlie leaned against Castiel's locker so he couldn't open it, "do you like him?"

"I consider him a friend," Cas said.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"I don't know." Cas shrugged. "I barely know him. Can I get my books now?"

"I don't know..." Charlie looked like she was in deep thought for a moment. I barely know you."

"Charlie."

"Fine, fine." She stepped away from the locker door so Cas could open it. "Dean isn't busy after school by the way. Just thought you'd want to know."

Cas took his physics book from the locker before closing it and looking at Charlie. "Why would I want to know?"

"So you can invite him out. Make your move."

Cas was about to answer but the school bell cut him off. "I'm going to head to class so we'll have to end this conversation here."

"Wrong, my friend," Charlie said as she and Cas began to walk to class. "You're stuck next to me for double physics."

\--

"Those were the longest classes of my life." Gabriel complained while falling into a seat next to Lucifer. When Lucifer replied with nothing but a curt nod and an 'uh-huh' Gabriel sat up straight. "You listening, Luci?"

"Sure," Lucifer relied, his eyes not leaving whatever it was that was more fascinating than the fantastic conversation that Gabriel would surely bring to the table.

"I don't know. You seem pretty distracted."

"It's nothing." He turned his attention back to the book in front of him. "And before you ask, I'm not getting involved in any weird plans today."

"I was just going to ask for advice."

"You want my advice?"

"Well, you're good at making friends," Gabriel shrugged, "and I want to make a friend." Lucifer opened his mouth to speak but before he could Gabriel continued "A specific friend, by the way. I didn't just wake up with a craving."

"Can I ask who this specific friend is?"

"His name is Sam and we talked yesterday. Well, I did all the talking."

"Of course you did."

"Okay, that was rude."

"I've lived with you long enough to know that you don't get to say what is and isn't rude," Lucifer said, looking over to Gabriel for the first time since he'd arrived. "So, this Sam, what's he look like?"

"Like that."

Lucifer looked to where Gabriel was now pointing. "Hey, isn't that Cassie's friend that he's with? The football one that hangs out with Michael. What did Cas say his name was again? Dan? Dennis?"

"Dean," a third party said.

"That's it." Lucifer turned to look at who had joined them. "Hi, Michael."

"Hey." He took a seat on the other side of Lucifer.

"Are you not hanging out with your friends?"

"You're my friend." Michael shrugged. "So yeah, I am. Now, why were you guys talking about Dean?"

"Gabriel wants to befriend the kid," Lucifer answered, nodding in the direction of Dean and the shorter boy.

"Sam? His brother?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, just know that getting Sam to open up can be tough."

"I know," Gabriel said. "I've already met him."

"Oh? Well, I'm not going to stop you." Michael smiled at Gabriel. "Good luck."

\--

"So, Cas," Dean threw an arm around Cas' shoulders. "You're free next week, right?"

"I don't have plans."

"Good." Dean gave a single pat Cas' shoulder then pulled his arm from around Cas. "There's gonna be a party at Jo and Adam's place and you're invited."

"By them or by you?"

"Dude, you're part of the gang now, you're invited to everything by default."

Cas smiled but before he could say anything a text notification sounded. Cas pulled his phone from his pocket to read the message. "I have to go."

"Why?" Dean looked over Castiel's shoulder in an attempt to see the text. "Who needs you?"

"My brother."

"Lucifer?"

"No. Another one. Samandriel."

"Is everyone in your family named after angels?"

"We call him Alfie, if that helps."

"Kinda."

"It's probably just about Balthazar coming over this weekend."

"Who?"

"He's kind of like a weird uncle who shows up unannounced, gives everyone gifts, gets blackout drunk, then leaves again."

\--

"Couldn't this wait until tomorrow? When it's, you know, the weekend?"

"I was going to wait until then but I panicked." Samandriel took a seat across from Castiel. He rested his elbows on the table between them and buried his face in his hands before mumbling something that Cas couldn't hear.

"Samandriel, please speak clearly."

Samandriel moved his hands away from his face and looked up at Cas. He looked tired and slightly peeved. "How do you deal with having a crush on someone you barely know?"

"I don't have a crush on Dean."

"Who's Dean?" 

Cas immediately realised his mistake and knew that the only way to fix this was to change the subject. "Why did you text me about this? Wouldn't it be better to ask Gabriel or Anna?"

"They'd just make fun of me."

"What makes you think they'd make fun of you?" Samandriel raised his eyebrows in response. "Oh, yeah. Dorky little brother."

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Cas shrugged. "So, when you say 'barely know him' how much is barely?"

"I have said one word to him but he is hot."

"I don't think I like hearing my baby brother talk like this," Lucifer said as he approached them, Michael in tow. "You shouldn't be finding men hot at your age."

"I'm fifteen."

"When I was fifteen I was watching cartoons and eating ice cream."

"Dad said you showed up on his doorstep naked and drunk when you were fifteen."

"Dad's a liar."


	8. The Kids Have to Go

It was finally the weekend and for most that meant relaxation and sleeping late but for the Shurley household it meant everyone was crammed under the same roof for the whole weekend unless they'd made plans to be elsewhere. It's not that the house was small, the family had plenty of money, Chuck was a bestselling author under the pen name Carver Edlund and his fiancée, Becky, was at the top of her career as a journalist. Still, why did Chuck decide that he needed so many children? Siblings seem to actively enjoy annoying each other. It was dad this, dad that, dad make him stop, dad they're touching my stuff constantly. After about an hour of this on this particular Saturday morning Chuck decided that he'd make his many children spend time outdoors because every single one of them was getting on his nerves.

"Lucifer!" Chuck called over the sound of teen angst. "Lucifer! Get your ass here now!" There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs followed by the eldest child sliding into the room, still in his pyjamas.

"You called?"

"I did. Take your siblings somewhere."

"What? Why?"

"Because they're being loud."

"They're not-"

Anna's voice came from somewhere upstairs, "Gabriel! Give that back!" followed by a smashing sound.

"Look what you did!" Gabriel's accusing tone was followed by Anna's frustrated sigh.

"Dad, Gadreel's been in the bathroom for, like, an hour." Samandriel wandered into the living room and flopped down onto the couch next to Chuck. "I need to shower. Why do we have one bathroom between eight people?"

"You've worked around it before," Lucifer said.

"I'm not letting you wash my hair in the kitchen sink again."

"Fair enough."

"Where's Castiel?" Chuck asked, realising that there was one kid that he was yet to hear. "He's usually down for breakfast earlier than this."

"He's on the phone," Samandriel muttered, sinking further into the couch, "with Dean."

"Dean? Is that the boy he's been hanging around with?"

Samandriel nodded and the sound of more approaching footsteps could be heard. The other four teens joined their dad and brothers in the living room, obviously ready to be given food of some kind and Samandriel used the opportunity to slip out of the room and get to the bathroom before anyone else got the idea to use up the rest of the hot water.

"Get yourselves something to eat," Chuck said, standing up. "Lucifer's taking you out today."

"I didn't agree to that."

"Have fun kids!"

Before anyone could reply Chuck was already upstairs and out of site, likely in a locked office. Lucifer turned to look at his four siblings who were staring at him expectantly. "So..." He looked between the four blank faces. "I guess we're going somewhere. Go eat breakfast, get ready, and meet me here in half an hour." Lucifer sat on the couch while everyone else left to go to the kitchen when a thought hit him. "Somebody needs to tell Alfie!" he called.

\--

"Right. Get out of the car." Lucifer turned so he could see everyone in the backseats. Cas, Anna, and Gabriel were crammed into the backseat while Samandriel and Gadreel were seated in the two seats in the boot because Lucifer refused to let any of them ride up front with him.

"It's September," Gabriel said, opening the door he was sat next to. "Why are we here?"

"Because you need the air, you're never off of the internet, and you all annoy dad."

"Shut up."

"Also, I called Michael and he said he could meet me here."

"Of course," Cas mumbled, earning nothing but a glare from his eldest brother.

"He's bringing Sam, Dean, and whoever else fits in the car," Lucifer said, turning his attention to the rest of his siblings again. "It'll be like a group outing."

"We don't know them," Anna said, stretching out as it was the first opportunity she'd had to do so during the long drive since Gabriel had disappeared at the mention of Sam.

"Cas knows them," Lucifer replied. "And you can get to know them."

No more time was spent arguing as everyone filed out of the car and into the parking lot. As soon as Cas stepped out of the car he was hit by the smell of salt and sand. Judging by what he could see, very few people were littered across the beach and even fewer cars were in the parking lot, most noticeably a car that was parked a few spaces away that had Michael Singer leaning against the back door, Adam Milligan next to him.

As soon as Michael looked up from his phone and saw Lucifer he smiled, and Lucifer sped up to meet him. You could practically feel the collective eye roll as everyone watched the two boys pull of the gayest no homo moment they'd ever seen as they embraced each other tightly then awkwardly detaching and turning the hug into an awkward handshake. Cas just tilted his head as he watched. He'd never seen his brother look so happy while simultaneously looking so sad. There was something in Lucifer's actions that suggested that he was holding himself back from something.

When the driver's door opened and Dean stepped out of the car it was Cas' turn to have everyone roll their eyes at him as a shy smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Hey, guys." Dean walked around the car, a friendly smile on his face. "Sorry to intrude but someone lost driving privileges."

"Hey, the car battery died on its own," Michael defended. "I had nothing to do with that."

"So, this is your family?" Dean put an arm around Cas' shoulders and Cas nodded. "It's nice to meet you all."

"Which of your poor friends did you drag along?" Cas asked.

"Our friends," Dean corrected. "And, besides Sam and Michael, Adam and Jo are also here."

"Hi, Castiel." Jo waved at them before opening the back door and climbing out the car. "This is going to be so much fun."

"If you say so," Gabriel muttered from somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, here's a sorta filler chapter. The next one will be the groups first day out together and I have big plans for the net few chapters.


	9. Group Outing

The mix of the strong sea breeze and the early September weather made the beach both the worst and best place to be. Sure, it was cold but that meant that the beach was almost free of people. There was only a few elderly couple walking along the path beside the beach hand in hand, giving some members of the group hope that that'll be them one day, and the occasional dog ran past them, exploring wherever it could while the owner watched from a bench. There was also a beauty in seeing the deep blue of the sea against the grey sky.

But, obviously, most of them were focused on the cold thing.

"It's not that cold," Lucifer said after hearing the third complaint in two minutes.

"You're not cold because Michael's standing so close that you're practically wearing him like a sweater."

"Hey," Michael looked over his shoulder to reply to Dean. "I make a cute sweater."

"Straight my ass," Dean muttered when Michael began speaking to Lucifer again. Cas snickered.

Dean threw an arm around Cas' shoulders and pulled him closer. Cas noticed that he tended to do that a lot, but he never called Dean out on it, he'd just happily take his place against Dean's side and stay there until Dean let him go in order to get something else done. "So, any reason that a group of strangers were invited on your family trip?" Dean asked. "Other than the obvious," he added, gesturing where Lucifer and Michael were walking ahead of them.

Cas shook his head. "You're not strangers. I'd like to think we're friends."

"Then why invite friends?"

"Because we love each other but we drive each other mad."

"Siblings do that." Dean sent a smile in Sam's direction. Sam only huffed in response before he began listening to Jo talking again.

The seemed to have split into two separate groups: Michael and Lucifer, and everyone else. The former seemed to be caught up in their own world as they spoke to each other and ignored the rest of their surroundings because, even though they wouldn't admit it out loud, nothing else really mattered.

Meanwhile, the latter were all grouped together, various complaints about the weather or the walking were muttered but they were mostly happy to talk amongst themselves and get to know each other.

Castiel hadn't left Dean's side for the majority of the day; Gabriel had taken to talking about anything that came to mind while Sam was happy to listen; Anna and Jo got along like a house on fire, most of their conversions were whispered and no one else trusted the glances they'd get from the girls; Adam and Samandriel exchanged a few awkward words but most of Adam's day was spent following his adoptive sister and Samandriel's was spent with his siblings.

"Is this how Charlie feels all of the time?" Dean asked as Adam sent another look in Samandriel's direction. "It's like, you just want to force them to sit together until one of them decides to man up and makes a move."

Castiel looked at his younger brother, who was attempting to hide behind Gadreel in order to conceal the blush that was creeping up his neck.

Cas nodded and pointed over to Sam and Gabriel. "Those two, too."

"Do we set them up or let them figure it out for themselves?" Dean asked.

"I don't think we should meddle," Cas said before smiling and continuing with, "but do you know who I think might need a little push?"

"Who?"

\--

"Sorry about springing all of this on you last minute," Lucifer said. He rubbed nervously at the back of his neck despite knowing that he had no reason to feel nervous. It was just Michael and, despite the words marking their skin, they were just friends, they'd talked about it and Lucifer was contented with that, at least, that's what he told himself.

"Don't apologise. I had nothing better to do and there's really nothing I'd rather do than spend time with you."

There was no reason for Lucifer to be feeling the way he did. He'd never felt this way before, well, he had, but not like this. Is this what happens when you take a perfectly innocent crush and place it in a romantic setting?

"And they seem to be having fun." Michael turned to look at the others. They all looked miserable. "Okay, they're probably not. But I am."

Lucifer smiled and followed Michael's gaze to the large group. His smile fell when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He read the text quickly then yelled to the group. "Perk up, kiddos. Daddy texted me. We can go home now."

"But Michael's standing right next to you. Why would he need to text you?" Horrified looks were sent in Samandriel's direction as well as 'did he just...' and 'but he's, like, twelve's.

"Please tell me that didn't just come out of my baby brother's mouth," Lucifer said. "I imagined that, right?"

The group broke into a loud laughter, but Lucifer continued to look horrified. Michael had gone a deep red and was hiding his face in his hands.

"Which one of you monsters did this to him?" Lucifer demanded. "Come on, Michael, we don't need to take this." He took a hold of Michael's wrist and began pulling him back the way they had come. "They can all walk home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Next chapter is going to be after a time skip and I don't know whether or not I should apologise in advance for what's going to happen.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr: queersonbroadway.tumblr.com


	10. Hoo Boy is the Author Going to Have Some Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strap in, kiddos, someone's getting hurt

Over the week the group grew, and the group had begun to sit on the grassy hill out front of the school since there was too much people to sit around the table. The original group had been joined by the rest of Castiel's siblings, Sam had begun to spend more of his free time with them rather than at the library, and they had also been joined by two guys from some of Jo and Kevin's classes: Garth and Ash.

Friday had arrived pretty quickly and most of them had found themselves surrounded by loud music and even louder students.

Michael sat on the couch, watching the others drink. He hated being the designated driver.

"Why don't you all just sleep on the floor or something then you can drive them home in the morning?"

"That's not how it works."

Lucifer gave a one-shouldered shrug and took another sip from the cup he was holding.

Michael had been wondering something for a while. He tended not to think about it too much but occasionally it made its way to the front of his mind and this was one of those moments. "How much have you had to drink?"

"This is my first one," Lucifer said, holding his cup up to let Michael see.

"So, you're still sober?"

"Yeah. Why-?" Michael didn't give an answer that Lucifer expected. He was more than surprised when Michael's lips were pressed against his.

Michael quickly pulled away when Lucifer's drink was dropped but he was immediately pulled back into the kiss as Lucifer grabbed the front of his shirt. He would worry about the spilled drink later. It was probably just watered-down beer or something.

They jumped to opposite ends of the couch when an "It's about time!" interrupted them. Michael glared at Dean, red faced while Dean laughed.

"I'm going to try to find Cas," Dean said. "You two crazy kids have fun. Remember to use protection."

\--

Cas had spent most of the night in the garden since it was the least populated part of the house. The living room was loud and some of the guests decided to play 'spin the bottle' so Cas decided that it was best to avoid that. The kitchen wasn't any better considering that's where the drinks were being provided.

The garden was an ideal spot since the only ones out there were people who were looking for a break from the noise and the stars looked nice.

"Cas?" Cas looked up at the sound of his name to find Dean standing above him.

"Hello, Dean."

"What are you doing out here?" Dean sat down next to Cas.

"One might say that my "people skills" are "rusty"," Cas said, using finger quotes.

Dean laughed lightly and looked up at the sky but Cas' eyes didn't leave Dean. "I think Michael's finally out of the closet."

"Really?"

"Either that or he slipped and his tongue ended up down your brother's throat."

"Did you have to word it like that?" Cas chuckled.

"Absolutely." He looked at Cas again, smile still on his face. "How about you?" he asked. "You seem like the mysterious, poetic type that most girls are into. Or do you swing in my direction?"

"Do you mean guys or you specifically?"

"Whichever one will get me an answer."

Cas answered Dean with a hard kiss and was somehow surprised when Dean kissed back. He shifted closer to Cas and his thumb grazed over the rough skin on his wrist where the words ended.

"Cas..." Dean broke the kiss but kept a hold of Cas' wrist. He pushed Cas' sleeve up and read the words on his inner arm.

"So, I may have not been entirely honest."

"This was... I said this, didn't I? And that was you?" Dean quickly got to his feet.

"Dean..." Cas said, standing up, when Dean started making his way back to the house.

"I need to go talk to someone," Dean said and he was inside the house with the backdoor closed before Cas could get another word in.

"What was all that about?" Charlie approached Cas.

She offered him a drink which he declined. "It was nothing," he answered, shaking his head. "Do you know where the bathroom is?" He needed to be somewhere else, but he couldn't leave the party since he was driving Lucifer home, a decision he knew that he'd regret.

"Uh, yeah. Upstairs, first right."

"Thanks." Cas was gone before Charlie got the chance to ask any more questions.

\--

As soon as the bathroom door was locked Cas was leaning against it, trying to control his breathing. "Pull yourself together," he muttered to himself.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Hey, are you okay?" the voice of a female party-goer asked.

Cas reached up to wipe at his eyes, feeling the wet on his cheeks. Funny, he didn't even know he was crying. "I'm fine," he said, voice cracking on the 'fine.' "I'm just..." He needed an excuse that would get him left alone. Anything was better than nothing. "...having my period?" He was wrong. There was worse than nothing.

"Okay, sweetie. Take your time." She seemed nice. Possibly drunk.

"Thank you." He moved away from the door and gripped the edge of the sink, knuckles white. He took in his reflection in the mirror above the sink. His eyes had gone red and the tears left tracks on his cheeks.

He ran a hand through his already messy hair then stopped when he saw the words in his reflection. He shrugged off his jacket and turned on the hot water tap. He put his arm under the water and grabbed the soap that was on the back of the sink and scrubbed hard at the letters, wishing they'd just come off but all it resulted in was the skin on his arm red, sore and wet.

He let out a frustrated groan and gave up. He dried his arm and put his jacket back on. He stopped at the door and hesitated before unlocking it.

He found Michael quickly when he got downstairs since the very drunk Lucifer he was holding up made their presence rather obvious.

"Michael," Cas said.

"Yeah?" Michael looked at the younger boy and frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cas muttered. "Can you take Lucifer home whenever he's ready to leave?"

"Um, yeah. Are you sure you're fine?" He had let Lucifer fall back onto a nearby chair, so he could put all of his attention on Castiel. "Have you been crying?"

"I said I'm fine." Cas pushed Michael's hand away from him when he reached out. "Just make sure that my brother gets home safe."

On his way to the front door his eyes met Dean's. For a moment Dean looked like he considered approaching Castiel but any trace of that was gone quickly as any emotion was wiped from his face as his attention turned back to the group that he was with. Cas continued towards the front door and reached into his pocket to find the car keys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cassie flyin' solo. Who you think that you know. Cassie in the bathroom by himself 
> 
> Should I apologise? I mean, you got two kisses out of this chapter.
> 
> We're this far in so I might as well explain the lore (?? Can I call it that?). So, the words that appear on a person's skin are the first words that they will hear there soulmate say (they can appear at any time before they meet their soulmate) whether it be directly to them or they just overhear it.
> 
> These words burn into the person's skin, essentially scarring them with the words, so the skin around the words can feel rough and the words fade with age, so they first appear black but will be white later in life. 
> 
> Many people get these scars surgically removed when they're over 18 years old if they have no interest in their soulmate or they're with their soulmate but they'd rather not keep the words for some reason (e.g. they're something inappropriate).


	11. Unnecessary Teen Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some slurs used in this chapter

"So, technically, it doesn't count as arson," Gabriel said, earning a mix of glares and shocked looks in response.

"What is he talking about?" When Dean's voice alerted the group to his presence Jo shuffled over so that he had room to sit next to her.

"Hopefully nothing that can be used against him in court," Lucifer said before looking up and catching a look shared between Dean and Jo which had him raising an eyebrow. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"Um," Jo smiled as she thread her fingers through Dean's, an uncharacteristically dark blush on her face, "on Friday."

"At the party?" Charlie asked, remembering the phone call she'd gotten that night. Then she realised that the group was missing a member. "I'll be back soon," she said, standing up and walking into the school building to look for her physics partner.

It didn't take long to find him considering he was exactly where she thought he'd be, by his locker.

He was staring wide eyed at the blue locker door, the word 'fag' was written in large white letters and red paint dripped from under the door.

"Who did this?" she asked. Cas shook his head and grabbed her arm as she began to storm off muttering "I'll kill them."

Cas looked over at Charlie and smiled weakly. "It doesn't bother me, Charlie."

"I don't care that it doesn't bother you. They don't have the right..." her voice cracked, and she pointed towards the locker door. "They shouldn't get away with it."

Cas could see that she was getting as upset as he was pretending not to be. He pulled her closer to him and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back. "This has happened before?"

She nodded against his shoulder. "They're all idiots and forgot about it after a while, but I think it was mostly due me being friends with Dean and Michael. They're, like, the scariest guys at school, and you've got them, too."

"I'm not sure I do."

\--

Earlier that day,

Dean was walking to his locker when a voice stopped him. "Winchester!"

He froze for a second before turning to those whoever had just spoken, a forced smile on his face. "Hey, guys," he said to the other members of his football team. "What's up?

"We saw you at the party," Gordon said. "With that kid, the one with the weird name... What was it...?"

"Castiel..." Dean answered, fearing that he knew where the conversation was going.

"Yeah, that one." The smile on Gordon's face showed that he was enjoying how uncomfortable Dean had become. It was strange to think that there was a time that the two of them were friends. "I didn't know that you were a queer, Winchester."

"You're confused," Dean said in his panic. "He kissed me."

"So, the hopeless gay is into you? We could have some fun with this." Gordon put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "You coming to help out?"

Dean was at the top of the school's hierarchy, but these guys could easily knock him to the bottom. Not only would they make his life hell, they'd make it almost impossible for him to defend Sam if things got hard.

Dean wasn't proud of his next move. "How can I help?"

\--

Lucifer and Michael seemed to be more cautious around each other than ever. The most they'd done all morning was exchange a few nervous glances. Neither of them were idiots, teenagers are cruel, and Michael had a reputation to uphold.

If anyone had seen them kiss at the party no one had mentioned it. Lucifer honestly didn't care about anything that anyone could say to him, but he wasn't going to force Michael come out before he was ready.

Michael was far from ready to come out to everyone in school, he couldn't even bring himself to come out to his parents and he knew that they would love and support him without a doubt but 'I think I'm bisexual' isn't the easiest thing to say out loud after years of pretending you were something else.

The first of them to speak to the other first was Michael at lunch. He grabbed Lucifer's wrist and pulled him towards the school's changing rooms. "No one's using them," he muttered.

As soon as the door was closed Michael's lips were on Lucifer's.

\--

Barely anyone had seen Cas all day. The only time anyone in the group actually saw him since he and his siblings parted ways was Charlie. She had decided to spend the day with him rather than the whole group and she didn't push Cas to hang out with the group since she knew it wasn't fair to make Cas watch Dean and Jo act like they'd found young love.

She kind of felt bad for Jo. She didn't know what had happened the moments before Dean asked her out. She'd liked Dean for a while and now she finally had what she wanted but it was in the form of some petty revenge plan. No one gets out of these situations without someone getting hurt.

Even if you could see where Dean was coming from, he was still being a dick.

Cas had done his best to clean out his locker and salvage what was left of his school supplies that morning, but he also made the mistake of thinking that would be the end of it. When he reached his locker, he was met with a blast of paint that left his clothes blue and his face red as he heard the laughter around him.

He slammed his locker closed and turned around, his eyes meeting Dean's. Dean looked away quickly and laughed along with his teammates (except Michael, who was missing).

Cas took a deep breath in order to stay calm before walking to the bathroom, Charlie behind him, glaring at the football team.

"I hate them," She muttered, closing the door behind her as hard as she could. "Are you okay?" Just looking at Cas answered her question.

The ink on his face was smudged from his attempts to wipe it off and the tear tracks on his cheeks were more obvious because of it.

"Cas..." She opened her arms to hug him, but he didn't move from his spot by the sinks.

"I don't want to get any of this on you."

It wasn't long before Cas had taken his shirt off and the two of them were dabbing it with wet paper towels. It wasn't really doing much but the monotonous task was preventing Cas from crying again.

They kept trying their best to get as much ink off of both the shirt and Castiel and barely realised when the door opened again.

"Cas," Dean's voice was soft but, due to recent events, it was difficult to know if it was sincere, "can we talk?

"There's nothing to talk about," Charlie said, stepping between the two boys.

"Charlie," Cas said, "can you give us a minute?" She gave him a look, wanting to know if he was really okay with this. When he nodded she left the bathroom after giving Dean an 'I'm watching you' gesture. "What is there to talk about?" Cas asked when he was sure Charlie hadn't just set up camp outside with her ear against the door.

"Look, man, I'm sorry," Dean said. "But these guys all look up to me and I can't just throw that away. If they found out I was a..."

"A fag?" Cas finished.

"Yeah," Dean nodded, an awkward chuckle escaped him as he rubbed the back of his neck, "that. But I am really sorry. I didn't expect to be confronted and I panicked and... I'm sorry."

"Save it," Cas said. "You threw me under the bus and put a target on my back to save your own. I get it."

"Cas... I truly am sorry."

"I don't want your apologies, Dean. I don't want anything from you anymore." When he threw his shirt back on and walked away he gave Dean one last look." Just know that I would have taken the bullet for you if you'd asked. then he left to find Charlie, who had in fact been waiting with her ear against the door in order to hear the entire exchange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you got an update!
> 
> Was it worth it?
> 
> Absolutely not!
> 
> Anyway...
> 
> I started drawing again recently but what to draw is always the question. So if you'd want merch for this awful lil fanfic then let me cause then I'll have something to draw and there will actually be art to go with this.
> 
> And if anyone else wants to make art to go with this then please do. I love validation of your enjoyment.
> 
> See ya in the next chapter!


	12. Cas Should be Homecoming Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and I apologise for my absence. I'm finally on break from school and I've decided to take a short break from my university applications. So here's a short chapter to get me back in the swing of things.

Castiel knew that the school was small, but he didn't realise just how small it was until every student was packed into the main hall for assembly.

Cas didn't pay much attention, nobody ever did at these things. It was nothing more than welcome back speech and information about homecoming.

"Hey, Cas," Charlie whispered and nudged him. "You should run for homecoming queen."

"Very funny," he said. "I'm assuming you'll be my king."

"Absolutely," She laughed quietly then stopped suddenly. "Oh, shit."

"Do you have something to say, Miss Bradbury?" The principal asked.

Charlie shook her head and sunk down in her seat, hoping to hide behind the students sitting in front of her, face as red as her hair. Everyone in the room snickered and Cas did his best to not laugh at his friend's embarrassment.

Cas was glad that Principle Harvelle decided to not hold Charlie back after the assembly because he wanted to get out of the building as fast as he could.

"What was that about?" he asked as he and Charlie walked from the school to the mall.

"I remembered that I promised Jo that I'd be on the homecoming committee," she said. "But with everything that's going on I'm not sure if I should still go along or..."

"You should," Cas said. He didn't want his issues to come between Charlie and her friends. She was the first person, aside from his family, to be nice to him in a long time so he wasn't going to ask her to give up her other friendships for him.

"Are you sure?"

"You don't have to worry about me,"

"Thank you," she said. "But you're doing it with me."

"What?"

"Come on. Jo likes you," she assured him, "and Dean won't be there, so it won't be a big deal. Besides, she doesn't know that you kissed her boyfriend."

"I didn't... he wasn't her boyfriend when it happened." Cas had thought about the situation over and over, it even looped in his mind when his eyes were closed, but he'd never thought about what Jo would think of it. She'd inevitably find out, but would she resent him for it? Would she resent him even more if he kept it from her? "I have to tell her, don't I?"

"I don't know, dude," Charlie shrugged. "I've never kissed Dean."

"I thought you were good at advice."

Charlie shrugged again.

\--

Now going back to slightly earlier in the day,

Michael was a good kid: top of his classes, star football player, didn't smoke, and was always home on time.

So why was he skipping class?

"My parents are going to kill me if they find out," he said, following Lucifer along the edge of the creek. Well, Michael was on the edge of the creek, Lucifer was in it. "Or they'll kill you."

"I didn't ask you to come with me," Lucifer would have looked back if he wasn't so concentrated on finding the least slippery rock to step on, "you just followed."

"Well you shouldn't be skipping class."

"Neither should you." Lucifer turned to look at Michael when he heard the crunching of stone stop. Michael had stopped a few feet behind him. "Have you never skipped class before?" When Michael shook his head, Lucifer hopped off of the rock he was standing on onto the dry land and put an arm around Michael. "We are going to have so much fun today."

\--

"So, is it a personal thing or a genetic...?"

Sam only raised an eyebrow in response.

"Right," Gabriel said. "Sorry." Gabriel had promised him one thing in short time they'd known each other but he'd also broken it so many times. Don't ask.

He was quiet for a few minutes, letting Sam get back to his lunch, taking the time to think of a conversation.

"Cas was acting weird yesterday," he said, and Sam looked up at him. "He wouldn't say what was up with him."

Sam reached for the notebook that was sat on the table between them and reached into his bag for a pen.

When he slid the notebook back to Gabriel it said, 'Dean too.'

"I wonder what happened." Then he shrugged and changed the subject. "So, homecoming," he said. "You going?"

Sam shook his head.

"Why not? No date?"

Sam just sipped on his juice box, looking unimpressed.

"I'll be your date."

Sam almost choked on his juice box. Was he being serious? As far as Sam could tell Gabriel had no idea that they were soulmates, so why would he...?

"You look surprised," Gabriel observed. "We're friends, right? So, we should go together."

Sam already knew his answer, but he took a few moments to pretend to think about it before nodding.


	13. An Apology from Me

"Get in," Lucifer said, unlocking the car door.

"Where are we going?"

"We're getting out of town," he answered. When Michael raised his eyebrows in question he smiled. "If we're skipping school then we have to make sure that we don't run into anyone we know. Can't risk Mr Straight A's getting in trouble." He opened the passenger side door and gestured for Michael to get in.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Michael said and got into the car. Though his tone was concerned, he was kind of excited. Before he'd met Lucifer he would never even consider sneaking around behind everyone's backs at school to make out with someone in an empty changing room or sneaking off while he should be in class. Now he could see the appeal, though he shouldn't glorify it. Don't ruin your education for a boy kids, literally no guy is worth it. "Do you mind telling me where out of town is?"

"Nope," he said and closed the door.

\--

The drive didn't take long. Less than an hour later Lucifer had pulled into the parking lot of a leisure park. "Most people are at school so we've pretty much got the whole place to ourselves."

The only other people on the mini golf course were parents with children still too young to be in school and a few people only a few years older than Michael and Lucifer.

Michael was watching a couple of girls who were playing on one of the closer holes while Lucifer was waiting at the front booth. One of them missed the hole and he guessed it wasn't the first time it had happened. The other girl laughed and kissed the pout off of her face, then they were both laughing. It occurred to him then just how little he really knew Lucifer, but just how much he wanted to. It was one thing for the universe to give you a nudge and say 'hey, you belong with this person,' but a completely different thing to fall in love with that person.

Maybe a soulmate wasn't necessarily someone who you were meant to be with, maybe it was just someone you were guaranteed to have an instant connection with, but it's your job to put in the work to make that last, to find the love that's there. 

He smiled and looked over to where Lucifer was now approaching him. 

Lucifer dropped onto one knee when he reached him and held up a golf ball. "Will you join me on this date?" If he was going to work to love and be loved by anybody, he'd want it to be Lucifer.

Michael chuckled and took the golf ball. "I'd be honoured."

Lucifer grinned and stood up again, handing Michael a club.

\--

Mini golf can be fun to play but is really drawn out and isn't particularly interesting to observe so I'm just gonna skip to hole 18

Lucifer looked down the patch of fake grass that had been set up in a straight line in front of him. The hole was right at the end and there was a slanted block in front of it to make sure the ball went in every time. "I'm kinda glad they make this one so easy," he said.

"Because you suck?" 

"Shut up." Michael was winning, sure, but Lucifer wouldn't go as far as to say he sucked. He didn't suck... did he? "I'm great at this. I'll get a hole in one right now." He hit the ball and the ball hit the slanted block, but rather than going over it, the ball bounced back and ended up in the water behind them. "I've never craved death as much as I do now."

Michael laughed softly and placed his own ball in front of Lucifer. "Try again," he said and placed a kiss on Lucifer's cheek.

Through the power of not wanting to look like an idiot in front of a hot guy, Lucifer managed to get it in the second time.

"How about we go get something to eat?" he asked when the ball disappeared. Michael agreed and they gave the clubs back to the guy at the front booth and left to grab some fast food.

\--

Dean took a deep breath. "Jo," he said, "We need to talk."

"You sound nervous. What's wrong?"

Dean had been sitting in the changing rooms after practice for twenty minutes, attempting to pluck up the courage to call Jo. 

Sam and Michael (who had shown up late to practice for some reason) were waiting outside for him and were probably getting really impatient.

"I need to tell you something." He took another deep breath. "I know I always said that I didn't want to be with my soulmate but I found them and I... I..."

"Fell for them," she finished for him. "So you're breaking up with me. Over the phone."

"Yes... No... I don't know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You're one of the last people I'd want to hurt, Jo."

"When did this happen? You've clearly known for a while if you've changed your entire outlook on soulmates. Have you kissed them?"

Dean nodded then remembered that she couldn't see him. "It was at your party, but before we happened."

Jo was silent for a moment. "I think I know what's going on," she said.

"You do?" Dean himself wasn't one hundred percent sure what was going through his own head lately, he could barely explain his own actions. He needed answers, and Jo knew him better than most people.

"You panicked, didn't you? Used me to deal with your own insecurities, and now you're trying to clean up your mess." She forced a laugh. "It hasn't even been a week."

"Jo, I'm sorry."

"I appreciate the honesty, I really do, but you are a dick, Dean Winchester. Cas deserves better." She hung up.

How did she know it was Cas?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, remember me?
> 
> I hate having writers block for only one story.
> 
> Fact: Since this was last updated I have written over 12,000 words for an original story I doubt anyone outside of my close friends would want to read, I binge watched Buzzfeed Unsolved multiple times, and the entire structure of my friend group fell apart so now there's two groups that I'm caught in the middle of, so I'm not sure who I'm supposed to sit with at formal on Wednesday, my tumblr url changed to aquatic-astronaut, and my anniversary is in about an hour. 
> 
> Anyway, now Dean has to deal with consequences

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Midnight Drive](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8006851) by [aebirdie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aebirdie/pseuds/aebirdie)




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